Reviewed by: Sue Eaton
TITLE: Wanted
SERIES: Wrong Side of the Tracks #5
AUTHOR: K.A. Merikan
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 435 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 20, 2024
BLURB:
“I’m pretty sure he likes d!ck. Now I just need to make him realize it.”
Liver. F*ckboy extraordinaire. Race car driver. Cocky. Horny. Would kill for his best friend.
Knox. Kickboxer with a chip on his shoulder and a heart condition. Crybaby. Would get rid of a body for his best friend.
Both: Wanted for questioning in connection to a murder.
Both: Possibly-maybe in love with each other and too dumb to see it.
Liv never meant to kill anyone. It was an accident. What was he supposed to do when his best friend’s life was at stake?
As much as Knox appreciates the whole saving his life thing, they’re now wanted by the cops, on the run, homeless, hungry, and miserable. At least they have each other.
They hope to find shelter in a vast junkyard, instead they witness a crime and are about to get dunked in acid.
But they’ve overheard that the owner of the place shelters gay guys.
So Liv does the most logical thing. He pretends to be Knox’s boyfriend to get their lives spared. Knox might not like it, but what choice do they have once they started lying?
Only that touching Knox starts an avalanche of new feelings and desires Liv never anticipated. His dick is on board even before his brain is.
Now, all he needs to do is convince Knox that there’s nothing wrong in exploring this new attraction. Sadly, Knox can be as stubborn as he is pretty, but Liv wasn’t called the trailer park prince for nothing.
He’ll do whatever it takes to make Knox see the light.
And by light, he means his dick.
REVIEW:
This book was a bit different from the other books in this series. It still has the found family who live in the junkyard who we met in previous books and the motorcycle gang. The vibe from the boys (they are young men in their 20’s but they give off a boyish feel), who are struggling to survive but they are very different from the other characters in the series.
Despite their rough edges and neglected start, the boys are sweet and a little naïve, especially about relationships and what it means to have a family. Liv’s Mum and Knox’s Dad got together when they were teenagers, they gave the boys a trailer to live in and then left them to their own devices. Sink or swim they only had each other.
Knox has a heart condition that no-one except Liv has bothered about, his Dad was determined to “make him a man rather than a crybaby” luckily, he is in prison and out of the picture now. Knox has been training to be a kickboxer from a young age and has had his fair share of girlfriends, but no-one who has ever stuck around.
Liv is the quintessentially bad boy, has women lining up for him, has no trouble charming them but Knox is his die-hard best friend. Even when they are on the outers with each other they both know they will make up and be best friends again. The women constantly play second fiddle to their friendship and that’s how Liv and Knox like it.
Their lives and how they both view their relationship drastically change one night, when, to save Knox, Liv pushes Vlad and accidentally kills him. A split-second decision to run and then to become fake boyfriend’s changes everything.
Watching them navigate this new landscape, trying to figure out how they feel, what it means, their insecurities and jealousies. Their inability to communicate with each other easily leads to misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Liv who feels secure in his new bi-awakening but can’t resist flirting with girls. Knox who struggles with his newly emerging gay feelings and how hadn’t he hadn’t realised before now, that he is Gay. How had he been so oblivious. He feels all in with Liv and their new relationship, but Liv’s actions hurt him. Can they forge ahead and build a successful solid relationship, or is it all just for show? They are both confused by their own feelings and what the other feels, are they together? Are they friends with benefits? Is it a relationship or a hook-up? So many questions and until they learn to be honest with how they feel, they will continue to be angry, hurt, and mostly very confused.
This book is a rollercoaster of emotions and their struggle to make sense of an ever-changing world and how they fit.
RATING: 
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